Warm-up (12,500 PHP)

Peter Chung is also in trouble with only 5 bb behind. He risks it all with 4♣ 4♥ on hand and goes head to head against the chip leader Christian Lortie who has A♦ K♠. With the board running 3♠ 3♦ 5♦ J♠ T♣ , Chung's small pair survives to keep him in contention.

Anthony Castro enters a raised pot that leads to a flop K♦ 6♥ K♠ . Following two checks, Castro bets 100,000, and is check-called by Peter Chung. They proceed to check the turn 7♦ then Chung leads out 275,000 on the river T♣ .Castro just flats and shows K♥ Q♠ trips, Chung has better 7♣ 7♠ full house and drags in the pot.

After five hours of play, the final table was reached. They are all guaranteed a minimum ₱62,610 with the champion pocketing ten times that amount, a total of ₱560,000 plus a seat worth ₱80,0000 to APPT Manila.

With a pot of 140,000 brewed, Peter Chung banged out 40,000 on the flop 5♠ 5♣ A♣ . Kiri Gelev check-called then folded to Chung's heftier 450,000 bet on the turn Q♣ .

Anthony Castro is dealt A♦ K♦ and raises it up to 35,000. Big blind Peter Chung has A♣ 4♥ and defends. When the board runs Q♥ A J♦ 6♠ , Castro fires 25,000 and 55,000, Chung check-calls then both check the river 9♣ . Castro's kicker plays to rake in the pot.

Peter Chung has taken over the chip lead after shipping a massive pot against Anthony Castro.

The PokerStars LIVE Manila Super Series 21 low-stakes festival is off to a booming start at Okada Manila, Philippines. For the second consecutive edition, the Kick Off event guaranteed ₱2M, and like previous, it was crushed. Yesterday’s opening day fielded a combined 283 entries across two flights, and with buy-in at an affordable ₱12,500 (~$215), the prize pool ballooned to ₱3,019,610 (~$51,690).

Entering today’s final stage are 43 flight survivors that have already locked in a piece of the pot but the real battle lies ahead with the spadie and ₱560,000 (~$9,570) in cold hard cash up for grabs. The champion also receives an APPT Manila Main Event seat worth ₱80,000.

At the helm is PokerStars regular, Christian Lortie-Cloutier who brings in a towering 540,000 (90 bb) stack. The Canadian pro is well-positioned for a deep run but will face some stiff competition with fearless players such as Dmitrii Belikov and Joseph Talamayan at the table.

Former Warm-Up champion David Erquiaga will also be one to watch as he shakes up the felt with a formidable 456,000 (76 bb). While he has position over the other big stacks at his table, Royly Oracion (401,000) and Richard Marquez (316,000), locking horns is a high possibility.

Cards start flying at 12pm local time. Players will have some room to gauge the competition with blinds increasing at a slower 30 min pace. Blinds kick off at Level 17: 3000-6000 ante 6000.

For all the action, stay tuned to Somuchpoker as we bring you fresh updates as it unfolds.